


So Stupid Sometimes

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-09
Updated: 2009-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-19 22:14:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12419349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: Lily meets James' parents under rather unexpected circumstances.





	So Stupid Sometimes

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**Disclaimer:** anything you recognise isn't mine.

The first time she met his parents, he was lying unconscious in a hospital bed.

She had just finished her shift at work, and she had run there, run all the way from the Ministry, without bothering to stop at home or even fix her hair. She didn't really think about how she must look like a mess - he was unconscious, for crying out loud, and Sirius had seen her look much messier than this – until she was about to push open the door to his room, and saw them standing right next to him.

And, well, from there, there really was no other place for it to go than downhill.

Suddenly, she felt as if someone must have hit her with the Jelly-leg curse, because she was shaking so badly it could not be her own body's doing. Suddenly, there was only one thought going through her mind – 'The Potters. Those are Mr. and Mrs. Potter', and she was no longer Lily Evans, the great promise of the Charms Department, she was no longer the recently-out-of-Hogwarts Head Girl, she was even no longer his girlfriend. They were Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and she was just a dirty, smelly, Muggle-born witch.

She couldn't move. She didn't dare take a step forward, nor did she really want to leave, with him just _lying there_. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, and for one moment of utter panic, she really thought she couldn't breathe. And so she just stood there, with that one thought going through her mind time and time again.

They were speaking softly between them. So softly, she could not catch what they were saying. Mr. Potter picked up James' glasses and mended them, put them back on the table besides his bed, then picked them up again to inspect them. His mother gently fluffed his pillows, tucked his blanket a bit tighter around him and bent down to kiss his temple and brush his bangs from his forehead.

It was then that realization dawned, and she dared to smile softly. They were fussing over him, she understood, just as she would, when she would finally pluck up the courage to enter his room. They were his parents, and she was his girlfriend, and perhaps they were all on the same side here.

Just as this lovely realization hit her, his mother spotted her.

"Hello," she said, a small smile playing on her lips, one eyebrow lifting slightly.

"Hello," Lily stammered.

"You must be Lily," she continued, when Lily stayed glued to the door. "James has told us so much about you". Her smile grew wider, encouraging her to speak.

"Uh - yes," she replied, "yes, I'm Lily".

Mr. Potter was looking at her a bit skeptically now. Oh, they must have thought her _brilliant_.

"It's nice to meet you," he tried.

"Same here," she squeaked.

She reached up to pull a strand of her hair to twist, strictly out of habit, and remembered just how much of a mess she looked. That, if she recalls correctly, was the moment the dam broke.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm such a mess. I got an owl from Sirius saying that they were on some mission or other and James was hurt. So of course I wanted to come right away but that stupid supervisor - Fenwick, or whatever his name is, I never bothered to learn it - wouldn't let me leave, great boss that he is. So I had to run here as fast as I could and the flat is on the other side of the city and I just thought that there wasn't enough time. At first everyone was saying 'just Apparate', like that's _such_ an easy task when your boyfriend is bleeding to death somewhere, but then I thought maybe I'll go for a quick shower anyway, but, well, I kept thinking he could be dying and that's just not the kind of thoughts you want to have while shampooing. So I just ran here and –"

She stopped rambling at their chuckles and colored slightly.

"Sorry," she concluded in a whisper, "what I meant to say – I didn't mean to intrude".

"Not at all," Mrs. Potter laughed, "it's lovely that you're here".

"I completely understand," added Mr. Potter. "Fenwick is rather strict, perhaps a bit too strict".

Then they both started to laugh.

Oh, this was just fabulous. This was just so bloody fantastic. Five minutes with his parents, and she already had them laughing at her expanse. Really, she could just see their relationship lasting.

Until approximately five minutes after he woke up. 

"Do come in, Lily," called Mr. Potter, his wife nodding along. "I'm sure James will be glad to see you when he wakes up".

She stepped inside and took a look around, her gaze landing on James. His face was a bit bruised, but other than that there were no visible signs of what was wrong with him. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then promptly started chewing her lip.

She lifted her eyes to their faces, only to have two worried sets of eyes meet her own.

"Will he be all right?" she asked, her voice audibly shaking. "What's wrong with him? Did the Healers tell you?"

"They told us about fifty minutes ago that he should wake up in an hour or so," replied Mrs. Potter. By the way her lips were narrowed, Lily had the strong suspicion she was trying very hard not to laugh at her.

She stepped forward and reached James' bed, resting her head on her hands, right next to him. And although he was unconscious, his eyes closed and his breathing shallow, even though she knew he probably wasn't listening - as she leaned down to kiss his lightly, she knew there was something she had to tell him, before he woke up and his parents told him he was dating Britain's greatest fool. And, well, he hardly ever listened to her, anyway.

"You are so _stupid_ sometimes," she whispered harshly." You just had to go on your _stupid_ mission and be a _stupid_ hero trying to _stupidly_ save the _stupid_ world!" She could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks, but she wiped them away furiously, wondering when, exactly, she had started to cry. "What about me? Did you have time in your _stupid_ schedule to think about that? What am I supposed to do? Just go on living a _stupid-free_ life? Do you really think that's going to work?!"

His mother had, by that time, reached out to grasp her hand gently, probably thinking she was going to slap him. His parents must have thought her emotional, crazy and violent – really, such a lovely combination – but she wasn't finished yet.

"You had better wake up right now, James Potter, or I swear to Merlin, you will not live to see your twentieth birthday".

She was crying in earnest now. Her face, still lying near James' ear, was red and blotchy, and she was sobbing like a pathetic child, her whole body shaking.

His mother patted her hand softly. "He'll be all right, dear," she said in her ear. "They hit him with an Unforgiveable, but he'll be all right".

"An Unforgiveable?" Lily whispered back, her eyes wide.

"They were aiming for a little girl," added Mr. Potter, "he jumped in front of her".

Lily looked from James to Mr. Potter and back to James again. "You are so stupid sometimes," she mumbled.

She really was dating the stupidest, most moronic, amazing man on the planet, and he was lying unconscious in front of her, while she was doing a very bad job trying to impress his parents. As she was crouching there, half standing-half sitting on her knees, she could only think that this meeting really wasn't supposed to happen like this. She was supposed to be cool and collected, not hysterical and teary eyed. She was supposed to smell nice, her hair was supposed to be washed, and James was supposed to introduce her, not be almost dead in a hospital bed!

So really, she concluded, this whole disaster was entirely his fault, and she was going to blame him for it for the rest of their lives. If there was ever to be a "rest of their lives", that is.

"Why don't you go take a shower, dear?" asked Mrs. Potter, breaking her revengeful train of thought.  "We'll tell him you're coming, if he wakes up before you'll be back".

Lily opened her mouth to say she'd really rather stay until James woke up, if that's all right, but Mr. Potter answered for her, before she managed to get one stuttered syllable out.

"Perhaps it would be best if she held off the shower until after she killed James here. It could get messy, with all that blood flying around. The poor girl shouldn't be wasting her time bathing all the time".

"You're right," replied Mrs. Potter, while she looked Lily up and down. "Wise choice, dear," she concluded.

And then they were laughing at her, again. Oh, this day was just getting better and better.

Although she didn't exactly know what she was about to say – really, what _can_ you say when your boyfriend's parents insist on laughing at you every chance they get? – She lifted her head and opened her mouth, with every intention to say something completely stunning and wonderful that would somehow save the impression she had managed to make so far. Just as the first word left her mouth, she felt James' hand move beneath her own hands, his eyes fluttered open and he groaned softly.

"Mum?" he whispered softly.

"I'm here," she answered, a small smile on her face, as she moved towards his bed. "And your father, too. Don't move," she instructed, as he tried to sit up.

"I'll just –" Lily began, about to excuse herself to give them some time alone with their son, but Mrs. Potter cut her off before she even managed to straighten up from her weird position on the floor.

"Lily's here, as well," she told him, "we'll leave you two alone for a few minutes".

His head was turned and he hadn't noticed her, but at his mother's words his unfocused eyes met hers, his wide grin lighting them up. She almost felt like crying again, strictly out of relief.

He lifted a hand to touch her cheek. "Was I out of it for that long, then?" He asked, frowning at her.

When she only gave him a quizzical look, he moved his thumb to wipe away a stray tear.

"You were crying," he explained.

She shook her head.

"Your parents hate me," she whispered. When he only chuckled in response, she added, "really. They think I'm an emotional wrack and a violent hag, and the only reason we're still together is because you're too afraid I'll come after you and kill you if you ever dare to leave me".

"Well, that's true," he laughed, his thumb still rubbing that spot right beneath her left eye.

She narrowed her eyes at him, but continued anyway.

"They think I don't shower, that I always smell like this".

"Well," he said, stretching the word out, feigning seriousness, "that's also true. I was too afraid to tell you that, as well". He let out a deep sigh, wrinkling his nose in disdain. "At least now you know".

"I hate you," she said, turning away from him.

Again he chuckled softly, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, guiding her eyes back to his.

"They don't hate you," he laughed.

"What do you know, anyway?" she demanded, "You weren't here".

At the look he gave her she visibly deflated, her shoulders sagged and her teeth once again caught her lower lip. "Well," she insisted, giving her shoulders a defiant shrug, "you were technically here, but you were unconscious, so I still know more than you".

He tugged a bit on her ponytail as he smoothed her messy hair backwards.  

"You," he whispered, smiling brightly at her, "are so stupid sometimes".

   

 

 

 


End file.
